4 - Risk management (major and extra curriculum)

I never occur to me to think about the relationship between my future income risk and the choices I make now in college. I believe there is a really strong tie among those two.

First of all, a lot of people, including some advisors, are saying that your major does not decide your career path. Well, to some extent, that might be true. But if you look closely, by choosing a major, you actually narrow down the possibilities of potential career. For example, by choosing to be a Econ major, it is very much unlikely that I became a Mechanical Engineer (ME), because I do not possess the knowledge or skills that is required to perform in that field. And if we calculate the arithmetic mean of the salaries of Econ graduates, we could get a number let's say $60,000. And if we do the same thing for ME graduates, we could also get a number, let's say $80,000. The point is: if I choose to be a Econ major and perform well, I kind of lock myself around the $60,000 range. It would be unlikely to go way above or way down of $60,000. Therefore, by choosing a major with bright future and work hard, I reduced the risk of having to work for an underpaid job, and likely to get a job with $50,000 to $70,000 salary.

Moreover, the summers between semesters give me a lot of time. 3 months time is almost like the length of a semester. And no matter I apply for grad school or a job, admission officers or recruiter would definitely interested in what kind of activities I involved with in all past summers so that they can assess me. I studied aboard at University of Cambridge in England in summer 2012, and interned at a major national bank head quarter in my home city during the past summer. These experience granted me an expanded horizon, enlarged network or relationships, teamwork and analytical skills. These skills are critical credentials for landing a job in my area of interests or applying graduate school.

If I stand at the school’s or recruiter’s perspectives, I would understand that it is a lot riskier to admit or recruit a graduate with just high GPA but no extra-curriculum activities than a graduate with comparable GPA and a lot other experiences, because the person with fewer experiences will not able to provide proof of his/her abilities without showing them in certain activities like interning. Thus there is a greater possibility that s/he could not perform as expected.

Sadly there are no close relatives or friends of my family have been through the same career path that I am about to take. I bet I would benefit a lot from them if there were any.